New Directions
by Kibasgirltsumi
Summary: Wes is a trainer from the Orange Islands, and North is a mysterious girl from Jhoto. When these two become friends, Wes is determined to find out what secrets she is hiding, and win the Championship along the way.
1. Sea Angels

Furret wrapped herself around my neck like a scarf as we boarded the large cruise ship. I received from disgusted glances from a few rookie trainers, who were convinced that the pokemon around my shoulders was indeed an accessory. I laughed, and stroked her menacingly. "You were quite pricy, my little friend, but at least I have a nice new neck warmer." The rookies openly gaped, while some hurried away. She crooned into my ear, digging her small paws further into my jacket as the ship pulled off. "I know you hate water, girl- but this'll be a quick ride, really." That was a lie, but the truth wouldn't help her cope with her seasickness now. I stroked her head and smiled at the islands slowly growing further away from us. I'd lived a good portion of my life on the Orange Islands, through all of the erratic weather and violent tourists. When I was a little kid, there was a horrible storm where the islands were nearly flooded, but I survived that too. I leaned against the railing. I was off to the Hoen Region now, hundreds of miles away from these islands I knew so well. It was exiting, though I was unsure as to what I would do when I arrived. Maybe that added to the joy of leaving. I loved my islands, but there was so much more of a world out there. "All right, girl." I tapped her head. "Let's find some of those rookies and have a little bit of fun, right?" She was thrilled to get her mind off the waves.

"And that is how it's done." I called back my pokemon, poising casually as I did so. I didn't take pleasure in utterly tearing up rookies who didn't even know all the evolutions of Eevee, but I took the time to show them how to battle. And they just ate up all the pokemon I had. I dare to say I made a fanclub on my first day on that ship.

"Whoo…I'm beat, Furret." I fell onto my bed in my small cabin late that evening. I'd battled for free, since I hadn't taken any of the rookie's prize money. My stomach was roaring, none the less. Yes, the long trip came will food, but all the good stuff cost extra. If I wanted to have any money left when I arrived in Hoen, I had to save. I stared up at the metal ceiling, watching at the room shifted with the waves. Suddenly, like a downpour of rain, the sound of water droplets hitting smooth flooring sounded beside me. I turned my head to the wall, and sure enough there was a large crack where the sound could flood into my room from my neighbors. I can't say I was annoyed at the sound since it was so quiet, but it sprung interest. Rolling onto my stomach, I pressed my face to the wall and looked inside. On the opposite side of the room, a blurred shower screen was going white with steam. I blinked. 'Oh…A shower.' I must have been in a daze earlier, because only now did the pale silhouette surface on the glass. Blush covered my cheeks when I realized it was a girl. I pulled away instantly, hot with embarrassment. I'd accidently peeped. 'Well, can't say I'm disappointed.' Though I vowed not to look again, my willpower did falter a few times before the water stopped. By the time her shower was over, Furret realized what I'd been doing, and positioned herself so I was blind to her room. Now I really felt like a pervert.

(Day 2)

I woke up before dawn the next morning. Apparently I was still on island time. I buried my head in the pillows a few times, but to no avail. I got up and was traveling down the empty hallways before sunup. Furret hung drowsily over my shoulders- now filling her pretend role as a scarf perfectly. "Do you think it's all open ocean now? Yeah…It's just a straightaway from the islands to Hoen…Hmm…" I found my way to the deck through a flight of stairs, and waited for the sun to appear. I could see a sliver of light at the end of the sea, but its light was so little it could hardly be recognized as the blazing sun. I leaned over the railing on my elbows, staring down below at the waves hitting the side of the ship. On her brow, I could see a name. At least, I knew it was there. The S.S…something. I leaned further. The S.S WES…

Like a deadweight, Furret slipped from my neck as I leaned over to read the name. "The S.S _WESTWAY_! Same as me! Cool-ah! Furret!" The tan pokemon was dragged away from the ship the second she hit water, growing further away as the ship passed her by. "FURRET! Ah-HELP!" I sprinted along the deck, following her with my eyes. "Hang on, Furret! I'm coming!" The small pokemon wailed in terror as the waves overtook her. Only once did she resurface before a large eddie consumer her completely. My heart received the boost of adrenaline as I sprung to jump.

The water stirred. The surfaced bulged suddenly, and a large pokemon broke the surface with an enormous splash. A radiant Milotic jumped halfway out of the water, sending droplets in every direction from her elongated fin. Riding astride her back was a beautiful girl, holding one arm to the pokemon's neck, and the other cradling Furret to her chest. Just then, the morning sun rose over the waves, casting every water droplet to a shade of rainbow. In my disarray and shock, I believed I was seeing an angel of the sea.


	2. Strange Outcomes

The milotic cried out, landing back in the water gracefully. The beautiful girl on her back reached behind into a small bag on her hip. She then tossed something into the air, which exploded into light. A charizard flew from the glow, diving back down to the girl on the milotic. She let the dragon pokemon grip her free arm in his claws as she recalled the water pokemon into its own poke'ball. After returning it to the bag, she was lifted to the deck of the ship with a few flaps of its wings. She landed on the planks before me, holding furret in her arms gently. I shook my head and ran to meet her.

"Are you okay, Furret?" She let me take her back, and Furret instantly burrowed into my jacket-shaking.

The Charizard landed beside us with a thud. "Is she goanna be okay?" The girl asked. I hugged Furret to my chest.

"I'm taking her to the Center right away."

"Could I come?" I looked up at her for the first time. She had short, pale pink hair- like bleached cherry blossoms. Her blue eyes were glazed with worry. "I want to see how she's doing, please?"

"Uhm, yeah- sure."

We talked for the first time that day, waiting by the doors as the Nurse examined Furret. Her name was North, and she was a trainer as well, from Johto Region. She had already been on the ship for a week and since she disliked being cooped up, she went out every morning on her pokemon to get fresh air.

"Pokemon battles can be fun…" She paused. "But mine prefer to just travel with me." The doors opened then, and the nurse came out with Furret in her poke'ball.

"How is she?" I had jumped up from my seat to meet her.

"Exhausted. Poor thing. But she will recover with rest. And you should be ashamed to call yourself a trainer!" I then received the most mortifying scolding of my life, before I was able to get out of there. We hurried out onto the deck, in case she planned to follow. I met another dilemma as soon as I stepped outside.

"There he is! It's West! Get him!" A mob of rookie trainers had ambushed me. I smiled, holding my hands up casually, trying to ignore the nervous sweat that dripped down my forehead.

"Wait, wait a minute! C'mon guys-"

"CHARGE!" There went my composure.

"_Charge_!" North gasped, then laughed.

"Oh my…What in the world have you done to them?" With a mischievous smile, she stepped foreward.

"Hold on there, what seem**s** to be the matter?"

"He beat all of us in a row- that punk!" She gasped, as if she were appalled.

"Well, I'll just have to beat him for you then." She turned back to face me. "Are you up for it?"

"Me? Of course, but…" Didn't she say she disliked battling? Her pokemon couldn't be that strong then, right? Then I caught a discrete wink. She continued casually upstairs to the arena as she passed me by. She wanted me to lose so these rookies would get off my back! Not only pretty, but smart too.

"Is two on two okay?" I nodded.

"Fine by me." Simultaneously, we pulled a pokeball from our belts and tossed it into the air. "Go!"

An orange mouse pokemon landed in front of her, whipping its lightning- shaped tail back and forth. Its white pokeball- what I recognized to be a rare premiere ball, returned to her hand.

"All right, Raichu, you've been itching for a fight." She patted her head. "Let's show him our best." A Raichu- the evolved form of Pikachu. It looked in pretty good health- shining coat and sparks coming from its bright cheeks. But then again, it could always just be well groomed.

"If it's an electric type you sent out, I'll show you mine too!" Out flew my Luxray. He was a large male, with a billowing mane that seemed to be made of fine cobalt wires. He opened his jaws and let out a low roar. North's Raichu scratched behind one of her large ears and yawned loudly. Luxray blinked in shock.

"Raichu, charm!" Luxray had little time to recover before Raichu dashed foreward. I'd though that most Raichu were slow, because of fast evolutions, but hers was quick. Pausing in mid-dash, she gave Luxray a quick kiss on his nose. Luxray back peddled, shaking his head roughly.

"What? You're upset by that little peck- that wasn't even worth recognition! Got get her!" I actually was a bit shocked by her choice of moves, but I would just keep that to myself. "C'mon- show her a thunderbolt!" Luxray, unlike his normal disposition, hesitated as lightning flowed through his mane. "What are you waiting for!"

"Now Raichu!" And the mouse ran up to him again. "Iron tail!" Luxray dodged, and the whole deck shook as raichu's steel tail slammed into the planks. No- her pokemon was defiantly strong.

"C'mon Luxray! Thunderbolt!" Finally, he spun on his paws and fired off a massive bolt of lightning. Raichu turned to meet it, her brown eyes wide. I'd forgotten in the heat of battle that I was supposed to let North win. But…Did I need to go easy? So far, all of the rookies were still glaring at me- even worse now that I actually countered. The deck lit up with the release of such energy. Sparks clawed at the floor when luxray let up his attack. There, in the center of the field stood her raichu. She shook her head, and whipped her tail on the ground- zapping the floor.

"Rai-chu!" The rookies all cheered, but I was just perplexed. The static on its body proved that it had been a direct hit.

"Raichu had a pretty useful ability." North smiled. "She absorbs all electric attacks into her own energy. Thanks for giving her the boost."

"Aw man, really?"

"Ok, Raichu. Double team!" In seconds, that sly raichu had multiplied into twenty- all circling luxray. This would oppose no problem to him though. His red eyes blinked slowly as his head turned cautiously. His orange pupils dilated, and without a command from me, he was able to doge the real pokemon as she dashed in for a skull bash. Luxray's eyes were highly developed for hunting, infact, they were so advanced that they could see the skeletal structures of creatures. Built in X-Ray vision!

"Mega kick!" Missing her intended attack, North commanded her raichu to use an attack that would simply take advantage of her gained momentum.

"Mirror Coat!" Raichu spun in the air and twisted. Her elongated foot smashed right into luxray's side as his fur turned into a metallic shade. Both electric pokemon flew backwards. Raichu skidded on the deck and luxray landed on his paws in disarray. Mirror coat was a unique attack that had taken me months to teach him- but it always paid off. It was a psychic attack that inflicted the same damage as he'd taken. Both sustained heavy blows from raichu's one attack. Her raichu whimpered on the deck, eyes shut tightly in pain while sparks jumped from her cheeks.

"Rai…!"

"Don't be upset- you did well. I choose moves poorly. Now, return." North called back her Raichu, who had been glaring at Luxray the entire time she'd been down. Luxray fell onto the deck with a loud thud.

"Hey! You okay?" He was out too. "Well, nice counter boy. Return." Luxray returned to his ball silently.

"Okay- tiebreaker!" The rookies yelled. My blood was pumping too. I'd started off this battle convinced that I would have to go easy on her. She was experienced, that was for sure. This battle would be no bluff. "C'mon, C'mon!" North took a black luxury ball from her belt.

"Okay girl. Let's show them what you can do!" This was the first time I'd seen that pokemon. Clearing from the light was a tall, tannish fox pokemon with crumpled leaves for ears and green paws. A cresent shaped leaf rested on its forehead, and another leaf was for a tail. Her clear brown eyes stared me down intent with curiosity. It was a leafeon- the grass type evolution of eevee. First a milotic, now a leafeon? She was just full of rare pokemon!

"Grass type, hmm? I can best that!" I threw a heavy ball high over my head. In mid flight, it burst open. A large pokemon, resembling a dinosaur, threw out the huge leaves on its back and flew in the air. North's eyes lit up.

"Oh- A tropius." She respected it for its ability to fly even though it was so bulky.

"All right, pal- razor leaf!" My tropius cried out and shot its leafy wings out. Razor sharp leaves sliced downwards at the small fox pokemon.

"Counter with magical leaf!" Her pokemon let loose a similar attack of leaves, but hers were glowing in many colures. Each of tropius' attacks was negated with one of hers. Magical leaf is a more advanced form of razor leaf- sure to hit.

"'Kay, leafeon. Jump attack!" The pokemon lunged into the air, just as high as tropius had been gliding.

"Whoa! Vine whip!" the first vine that lashed out hit her directly across the face, sending her down. But when he threw a second one, tropius let out a shocked wail. Leafeon hung from his vine, gripping it with her sharp teeth. Her lithe paws suddenly gripped his vine as she released him from her jaws. As he recalled the vine, she dashed up it to meet him. "Talk about fleet-footed! Whirlwind!" Leafeon landed on his back just as his wings began to beat. Tropius bellowed in annoyance as the pokemon dashed around his back, stirring up a huge wind. Suddenly the gust halted, and Leafeon jumped back to the deck. Tropius free-fell onto the deck, causing the entire upper level to shake with the heavy impact. "Hey, what happened?" He stood, shaking his long neck roughly, biting at his wings. If it were any other pokemon, I would have laughed. Leafeon had taken tropius' own vine whip and tied his wings up with it. He now stood in disarray, trying to free himself. And since it wasn't their pokemon, all the rookies were laughing their heads off.

"Grr- tropius- solar beam!"

"Rainy dance!" Leafeon fired the perfect counter. The sun had been at its high a minute ago- blazing down on the ship like it was under a magnifying glass. It had been the perfect weather for a fire attack- especially one that gets its power from the sun. As tropius leaned his neck to take in the sunlight, clouds engulfed the sky. It was instantly dark, droplets of rain hitting the deck. Tropius shook out his leaves, cooing as he took in the cool rain. He was now enjoying himself.

"What- c'mon tropius, now is not the time for a shower!"

"Grass whistle." A high-pitched, but relaxing melody filled the air. Tropius began to sway in the rain like a windy palm tree, and then fell onto his side in a deep sleep. The rookies, most who had never heard the song before, collapsed onto the deck in slumber as well. I looked up from my tropius to North- bewildered.

This morning she had saved furret by jumping out of the surf on a milotic, and now she was besting me in a pokemon battle. "Who are you, anyways?" She dropped her head with a smile, and shrugged. Her leafeon walked up to her and licked her on the hand.

"A bad liar, I guess."


	3. Neighbors

Once again, we sat inside the center as our pokemon were healed from the battle. Due to rainy day, it was now stormy outside- just enough to keep all the passengers inside. As we sat in the waiting room, she had taken out another one of her pokemon. He was a cuddly little newborn, who was a bit protective of North.

"Silver, just hatched-" The larvitar stood on her lap, sniffing the air cautiously in my direction. He was an interesting pokemon- dark with a pinecone-like tail and black markings under his eyes.

"Silver?"

"M-hm. I named him after one of my friends from Jhoto. Well, he hatched before we got on the ship, but we've been together for a few weeks before that." Though he appeared to be staring me down, his eyes were unfocused. Now that I looked closer, they seemed to be paler- almost gray.

"He's kind of cute-"

"Larve!" Silver rammed into me with his head. The impact was so hard that I actually fell out of the seat.

"Ow, what was that for!"

"You can't do that, Silver!" She scolded. "West is nice!" Silver made a loud sound like "hmp!" and turned his head as far away from the both of us as possible. When I stood and sat beside North again, his glare actually froze me. "Hey! No leer attacks!"

Silver finally allowed me to sit beside her, as long as I kept a good foot or two distance.

"Well, are you goanna tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Why you're such an awesome trainer! I mean- you said you didn't like fighting."

"Well, I don't. I want to travel- not fight."

"Okay. I'm listening." She smiled and sighed.

"I'm from this amazing port town. There was a lighthouse, a pokemon gym- cargo ships came from all over to drop off and pick up stocks there. And, well, you know about Team Rocket, right?" A zap of electricity seemed to hit me at the name.

"Of course. They're a gang of pokemon thieves. I've even tangled with them before- they were after my Luxray. I haven't seen them in a while, though. Rumors are they disbanded." North nodded.

"Hopefully. Well, they liked to come and raid from the ships whenever they pulled in. My city was suffering because of them, and no trainer was strong enough to hold them off. So…I traveled around Jhoto and built up the team of pokemon I have with me now. The gym leader and all the local trainers teamed up with me, and we ambushed _them_. Team Rocket didn't know what hit them, and they were running before they even reached the beach. A week later, an even bigger group came back- but we held them off as well. Almost a month later, Team Rocket came back with everything they had and came by ships. It was a stormy day- almost raining. That's when I chose to use a thunderstone on my pikachu. Newly evolved raichu took the entire fleet down with the gym leader's electric pokemon." North held Silver close to her. "After that, they never returned. But when I went to check the wreckage, I found a pokemon egg, that later hatched into Silver." She seemed almost sad. I was unsure as to why, especially after hearing such an amazing tale of victory!

"…Well, wow. That's amazing! Taking down Team Rocket all by yourself like that! You saved your entire city- no wonder you're so strong!" She laughed, rubbing her eyes.

"I didn't do it alone, West."

"_Wes_."

"Huh?"

"_West_ is my full name. Call me Wes."

"Okay, Wes. Let's get some dinner." We got our pokemon back a few minutes after we dropped them off, so we could go to dinner as they were serving it.

"Travel food just doesn't do it for me." I mumbled as I tried to gnaw through my "magikarp fillet". "So, is North your full name?"

"Yep." She was having an easier time eating then I was- already done and watching me with a mocking grin on her face.

"No nickname?"

"No. Just North."

"That's boring."

"Hey!"

The rain cleared up after dinner, but that didn't make the sky any less dark. I started in the direction of my cabin, tired after all that had happened today. I was sure that North would peel off up the stairs or down a different hall to her room, but she just kept walking alongside me, chatting quietly about the trip so far. Finally we reached my cabin, and I lingered there sheepishly. I didn't want to be rude, but how would I tell her bye? She seemed to understand my situation, because she laughed.

"Oh, you don't have to say anything."

"Oh, uhm, okay." There was a curious twinkle in her eyes.

"That was very kind of you, but how did you know where my cabin was?" I tried to hide my confusion.

"Uhm…your cabin?" She nodded.

"Yes. Mine is right here." She pointed to the door beside mine. "Thank you for walking me back." I felt a cold sweat run down my spine.

"A-Anytime. Well, g'night!" I dashed into my room and put my back to the door. "No way." I waited a few seconds, then jumped onto my bed and stared through that crack that furret loved to cover up. North walked through the room, laying her pokeballs down on the sheets of her bed. I pulled away from the crack as if I'd been slapped. "You are horrible, dude. Horrible." I proceeded to cover that cursed crack up with a page from the nearest magazine.


	4. Swimming

(day 2)

"Wakie, wakie, North!" I stood in front of her cabin door, knocking loudly. As maids and passengers passed by, they all gave me the same, curious look, like- 'Why is he banging on her door at this hour?' or something. Well, it was past nine, which was the time my mom had always told me it was okay to call someone, so I was applying the same rules here. "So, wanna go down for breakfast? I think I can handle that magikarp thing today, man there was some trick to it- I swear…" No response. "You there?" The door opened. "North-ew..." A maid backed out of her room, wheeling an obnoxiously large crate of mops and toiletries past me. I dashed past the maid as soon I had the room. "Safe to say she's not home…hmm…" I peeked in the dining hall, and only the few early risers or those suffering from seasickness were up. I sighed, and furret jumped onto my head so she could lean over my forehead and look me right in the face. "I'm not looking for her." I closed the door and wandered down the hallway. "Not at all- hey, what did she say about going out in the water?" Furret froze up. "It's okay." I took the stairs to the deck and placed her on one of the sun tanning chairs. "You wait up here." I leaned over the railing eagerly. Not on that side. Furret sighed as she watched me dash across the lonely deck to the opposite side. Sure enough, North was down in the water. But this time, she rose astride a brightly colored Lapras. "Really. Is she a rare pokemon collector or something?" I grinned and pulled out a pokeball. "Go, Floatzel!" A broad, orange pokemon landed on the deck. I always thought he'd looked like a lifeboat- with the built in inner tubes on his sides. He dove into the water with me on his back. "Cannonball!" We landed beside North, stirring up a fray of seawater with our sudden appearance. North shrieked in pretend fear.

"Were you deprived of attention as a child?"

"Nope- just my normal greeting." I'll admit that riding Floatzel was hard. He was only a little larger than me, and I had to sit pretty still to stay afloat.

"Not the best pokemon to surf on."

"Hey, floatzel here is a great surfboard." I patted the aquatic pokemon as he cried out in agreement. The water billowed upwards, and North's milotic surfaced. North stroked the serpent's back casually as she passed by. Milotic was described as the most beautiful pokemon ever, but the way she was circling me with her silted eyes just above the water reminded me of shark attacks.

"She's just checking you out." North reassured as the pokemon disappeared underwater again. "Milotic keeps the big guys away while I relax." I floated closer, and her oddly colored lapras sniffed me loudly. With a soft croon, she nudged me playfully. That playful nudge almost threw me into the water. "And lapras here seems to have taken a liking to you, Wes. You sure have a way with pokemon." Seeing how many different reactions I've stirred from her pokemon, I'm not sure what "way" she was talking about.

"Hey, North. Why is your lapras so…purple?"

"She's a _shiny_ lapras. Her skin is violet instead of blue because of a random mutation."

"Do you _collect_ rare pokemon, or do they just flock to you?" She shrugged.

"Want some breakfast?" She was leaning on lapras' neck, while she covered a piece of toast with jam. The sweet scent of pecha and razz berries reminded me of the plentiful berry forests back on my islands.

"I will partake." We floated side by side beside the waking ship, eating our fill of toast and jam leisurely. She then offered to let floatzel swim around for a while and for me to take a seat on lapras. It was my first time riding a lapras, though I'd seen them ferry people across the water before. Just sitting on lapras, I felt calmer. But I was amazed at how North could just sit back on her lapras and make toast in the middle of the sea. She was at such ease with her pokemon.

We spent the whole morning talking and watching for water pokemon beneath us. North even revealed a fishing rod and let me have a go at fishing up pokemon. After an hour, I managed to snag over ten magikarp(which I was a bit disgusted to see) and a soup can.

"Well, that went well." I mumbled, tossing the can away.

"For your fist time, it did. You can always be a magikarp trainer." She tossed out her own lure into the waves, sitting opposite me. The ship let out two consecutive foghorns, even though we were no where near land…or fog in that matter.

The ship towered above us like a moving castle. I could see its name, The S.S Westway, in bold blue letters clearly now, and they were much larger than they appeared when I was leaning over the railing. There was another loud splash, and I turned quickly enough to see a blue tail disappear underwater. I was silent, intently focused on that patch of water. I wouldn't miss it a third time.

"Vape!" A blue pokemon jumped from the wave right beside me, almost starling me into the water. "Vay! Vaporeon!" Sleek, fox-like pokemon dove up from the water on all sides of us, splashing their webbed tail as they landed.

"North! Look!" I counted three, four, six vaporeon swimming alongside us.

"Wow! There are so many! I've never seen such a large group!" When each pokemon jumped, thousands of droplets slipped from their scales and shot out before they landed again. When they were submerged, their skin became water and they disappeared in the waves until they surfaced.

"Let's join them!" I declared, facing lapras again.

"What? Join them?"

"C'mon lapras! Let's go!" Though North was baffled, her lapras seemed to know what I meant. Lapras propelled through the water, paddling rapidly with all four of her fins, and leapt from the water.

The water was surprisingly cold, and North and I were both screaming when lapras surfaced.

"What kind of idea was that!" North scolded.

"I thought it would be warmer!"

"Wait-lapras!" On the other hand, lapras had been keeping her back dry all morning so North and I could sit on her, and she was having a blast. Squealing in delight, she dove again. By the third dive, the vaporeon had become a lesser sight, and North recalled lapras the second we surfaced. We tread water for a few seconds in silence as the ship and group of wild vaporeon passed us by. Both our faces were concealed with our water-soaked hair, but I could still hear North ask me,

"Had your fill yet?" I nodded.

"I'm good."

North's charizard came to her aid, but the two discretely ignored me as he lifted her from the water. Only then did Floatzel realize I was stranded, and came back. But since I needed a flying type to get me back on deck, I threw another pokeball into the air. In a burst of light, out flew my prize pidgeot- a strikingly handsome male with a billowing crest of reds and yellows. Evolved from the large bird pokemon pidgeotto, he was now big enough to carry me and fly. He cried out and flew low so I could jump onto his back from floatzel. In just a few flaps from his muscular wings, we caught up with the ship and landed on deck. There was a set of wet footsteps leading to the towel shed beside the pool.

A towel landed in my face when I reached the shed. North sighed and smiled, showing that she'd forgiven me.


	5. Affection

(Day 4)

"A double battle?" North and I sat on deck with furret and Silver on the table between us. Furret kept washing Silver's face with her delicate paws, and though the young pokemon was larger than her, he seemed to be discreetly enjoying the motherly attention. Two trainers then came up to us from across the deck as if they had been waiting for us to show up.

"Yeah." They continued. "C'mon, you guys aren't rookies- we saw that battle earlier." The taller of the two guys smiled and winked at North. My hair bristled, but she just laughed innocently.

"Oh yeah, you bet- but why don't you let me crush- I mean, take you both on first!" I gave a strained smile with my proposal. Light from behind caused our shadows to flip in front of us for a second, then North's raichu bounded forward. She tugged at the leg of my pants with a large smile.

"Rai-chuu!" Raichu spun and dashed back to North as if she were a child asking for permission.

"Hm? You want to fight?" Raichu nodded and ran back to stand beside me.

"Borrowing a pokemon?" The trainers shrugged. "Fine, but don't laugh if it doesn't listen to you."

I faced the two trainers, Raichu standing eagerly before me on the deck's battle arena. It's not like I haven't borrowed pokemon before, but what would North think if raichu got hurt? Sparks bounced off of her cheeks, and her tail whipped the planks eagerly. She was strong- hopefully enough to get through the battle without a scratch.

"Fine then, get em' Arcanine!" The first of the trainers threw a ball onto the ground, and a large orange pokemon landed on the deck. Arcanine looked like a cross between a tiger and wolf, doglike with black tiger stripes. If bared its teeth at raichu with a threatening growl. In turn, raichu turned her head in apparent boredom. When the second trainer sent out his pokemon, the entire deck shook. It was a graveler, a heavy rock-type with four rugged arms and an aggressive personality. Okay, they wanna play tough. I pulled a familiar pokeball from my belt.

"Luxray!" Luxray was the first pokemon I ever met. He stood before me and faced the two pokemon with loyal resolve. "Let's show these guys." His mane rippled with static and he nodded. It seemed like a great matchup, until raichu caught sight of my second pokemon.

"Rai-rai!" She spun on her heels, glaring at me in annoyance.

"What is it?" She stamped her foot and shot a glare at luxray. The lion pokemon shook his body and turned away. "You…don't want to fight with him?"

"Arcanine- flamethrower!"

"Gravler- rollout!"

"Oh no!" I spun around. "There's no time to argue, raichu! Luxray stop rollout with roar, and raichu, thunderbolt on arcanine!" Raichu dashed back into the battle and shot a powerful beam of electricity to arcanine. The fire pokemon slipped out of the way of her attack, and closed in on raichu in another second with flames bursting from his mouth. The sassy raichu dodged by jumping onto its jaws and snapping them shut with her own weight. Luxray had managed fine on his own too. I'd learned over the years that sheer force can only sometimes stop sheer force. Roar would stop an opponent in their track without doing anything but snarling at them. "Okay, now combined thundershock- go for it!" Luxray instantly charged up at my order, but raichu snapped her tail on the ground in disobedience.

"She doesn't want to fight with luxray…" North murmured from behind me. "She hates to lose, it's getting to her again." I glanced back at her. Luxray couldn't hold his attack any longer, so he sent it out towards arcanine to shake him from raichu. The large mouse pokemon took that offensively, and snapped at him in anger. Distracted, she took a direct hit from graveler, while luxray was scorched by fire spin.

"No! C'mon guys, you have to work as a team!" Little did I know, but I wasn't leading them in the battle any longer. Riachu stumbled upward as gravler rolled in again, his attack even stronger now, and sustained another blow. The second hit tossed her yards further from me, and gave up any control I had on the battle. "Oh no!" This attack was super effective against electric types too! "Raichu-run!"

Luxray dashed in front of her and tackled the speeding pokemon. Blood soaked his forehead where he pressed it against gravler, who still was rolling in place. His paws dug into the deck, and his claws scratched along the wood as gravler tried to overtake him.

He snarled, refusing to give any ground against the dangerous pokemon. "_Ray_!"

"Chu…?" Raichu lifted her head and turned over her shoulder to see the dark pokemon towering above her, keeping that vital distance between her and the final blow. "Rai…chu…?" Her eyes beamed with disbelief. She had not supported this pokemon the entire battle, yet he still went so far to protect her? Luxray clamped his eyes shut with exertion, and his paws slid along the deck, just about to be overwhelmed.

Raichu bounded foreward and leapt above graveler. "_Raichu_!" She spun in the air, tail glowing, and came down on the pokemon with a full blast iron-tail attack. The gravler fell back across the deck, digging into the planks as he went, sending flurries of broken wood across the arena. Raichu landed on deck, panting with sweat beads all over her body from the sudden attack. Luxray shook his head and stood to his full height. The two exchanged quick glances and ran back into the arena.

"Okay! Now, both of you, thundershock!" this time, the two electric pokemon combined their attacks to release a devastating blow onto the trainer's startled arcanaine.

"What!"

"S-So strong…!" Both trainers were forced to give in.

Luxray and raichu walked back to the edge of the arena, taking their time after the tiresome battle. Raichu stood on the tips of her paws to see luxray's forehead, where his black fur was brushed back in the opposite direction from rollout. Suddenly flustered, she began pressing his fur back into place with tender strokes from her paws. He returned her gesture with a lick that covered her entire face and sent her off balance. North and I stood in shock as Raichu proceeded to nuzzle into his mane and groom his neck. Even though the battle had been less impressive then I'd hoped, it turned out that North was still impressed with me.

Though raichu took a beating, she said it was unlike her to act so kindly to a pokemon who's beaten her, and she was impressed that my luxray was so well brought up to allow that second chance. And luxray was not one to be so affectionate either. We faced each other and laughed.


	6. Hearing things

Laughter suddenly turned to screams. The ship lurched and we fell onto the deck as it tipped harshly to a side. It felt as if we'd run aground, but only for a second. The ship must've hit something, something big enough to sink it.

"Wes!" North began to slip further, but I caught her wrist before she tumbled off the guardrail. With my other hand I clasped the stair's railing. My body jerked and we came to a standstill. I gasped in fear and the rush of adrenaline. I saw churning black water below us, and a massive shape moved through the water. I could only make it out because of the florescent red lines that patterned its body. It must have been at least the size of the cruise ship! Then the boat tipped back to its normal leveling, and we dropped onto the deck in shock. The deck was soaking, and so were we. Luxray and raichu had found safety in the towel shed, and both dashed out now that the ship was safer.

"_Fur-Furret!" _Furret called for me from the far side of the deck.

"Silver!" North scrambled to her feet and we ran to our small pokemon. When the boat tipped, Furret dove under the table with Silver, and held fast onto the young pokemon during the crisis. She was soaking, shaking, and Silver gripped her with teary eyes. When they saw us bend down, the pokemon jumped into our arms with relief.

"Good girl, good girl." I praised. She nuzzled me fervently with her head, running in circled around my shoulders. "Okay, okay, no more ships."

"What was that?" North breathed, clutching Silver protectively.

"I…I think it was a poke-" Before I could answer, the clouds dropped low as if they were lead, and a painful rain devastated the ship.

"We have to get inside-ah!" The ship rocked again when the thing grazed us, but this time, we heard it cry out. It was like the underwater cry of a dewgong- dignified, but loud and repetitive. It sounded angry, as if it was screaming for help in a language that no one could understand. North suddenly ran a few steps towards the side of the ship, then stopped as if she'd realized what she was doing was crazy. "I-!" She stared desperately over the ship, holding Silver close. "I can't do that! We…" She looked back at me.

"Who are you talking to!" I yelled, trying to speak over the roar of the wind. She recalled Silver into a pokeball and threw her bags inside except for two pokeballs and raichu at her side. She was breathing hard.

"I-I don't know!" I shook my head.

"What!"

"If it gets any closer, its goanna sink the ship! We have to stop it-ah!" The monster fish rammed against the cruiser again, hitting it at the front and causing the ship to steer off course. North held firm onto the railing, and tossed her pokeballs in the air the second the ship settled. "Milotic, Lapras!" Her two water types appeared on deck. She looked back at me with resolved, but longing eyes. "I…this will be dangerous." She faced me, her hair blowing in front of her with the wind.

She was determined to do this, and protect the passengers. She would risk her life…her life. I put my hands on my hips and hung my head with a sigh. Furret licked my face in worry. She didn't want me to go out, but I had decided to do that very thing before North had even addressed me. I pet her sweetly, and placed her on the steps to go inside. 'I'll be right back, furret.'

"Pretty, but a little crazy." I grinned wildly. "I like it! Can't let you go out alone, can i?" She gasped and smiled.

She nodded and jumped on lapras' back. "But floatzel can't handle these waves- take milotic instead. Okay, girl, let's go!"

"Wait- milotic!" I ran to the edge of the ship to try and dissuade her. "Milotic!" But she was lost in the waves already. "F&#!" Even in the dark clouds, I recognized the shape of that sleek, sinister shadow looming above me. I fell backwards, and scrambled to my feet. Instantly, the sea serpent cut off my path with her elongated body, facing me at a height taller than I was. The display was identical to a snake trapping its prey. "Easy, easy milotic…" She dove right in between my legs, catching me on her neck before she jumped off the ship.

In those seconds that we fell, I panicked. My stomach dropped to my feet and I landed in icy water instead of on milotic's back. I floundered, more frightened that I was in the water with that crazed pokemon(and I wasn't talking about the one who'd struck the ship) more than the storm itself. I was suddenly carried up to the tops of the waves on a scaled neck. The pokemon gave me a quick glance and glided through the stormy waters with ease. I gripped her like she was the last piece of wreckage from a sunken ship, and my only chance of survival now. Milotic made a circle in place and floated beside North.

"If-If you're that scared, Wes-"

"I'm just great!" I screamed, my voice cracking in remnants of shock.

"You're a bit pale-"

"Water's cold." I cleared my throat to change the subject. "Do you see it?" North looked over the dark ocean.

"No…I don't know what to look for…I just know it's out here." Her lapras cried out in anxiety, and I pat her neck to try and calm her.

"It's a pokemon the size of the cruiser."

"…I know, it's big…" She cringed, leaning on lapras for support.

"Hey, are you okay?" Her eyes snapped open, suddenly alert.

"It's coming back!"

Not a second passed before it surfaced. The ocean beside us grew, bulging like it was going to burst. The ocean was a net, and the pokemon was breaking free of it. It pulled free of the water, head first and mouth gaping at the blackened sky. Rows of fangs outlines its white jaws against the clouds. Its head was blue, underbelly white, with red trimming every appendage. Its enormous fin erupted from the water, easily reaching above the highest point on the Westway. The anguished cry came again, so fierce that we could see its mouth quavering. Rivers of water poured down its sleek body, drenching the ship thoroughly. Then, it came down on the water like a whale. Its massive side hit the waves, and it seemed the water could not make room for it to submerge quickly enough. The impact sent us sprawling over the water, sustaining wave after wave that must have been ripples to the massive water pokemon. And us, just insignificant drops of water in its endless domain. We were nothing compared to it. In its presence, it felt as if gravity had increased tenfold.

'Leave here…be destroyed…' I could not breathe. The pokemon submerged and cried out yet again. 'Leave at once, or be destroyed!' I gripped my head. It…It was talking to me! 'Wes…?' Again? No, stop talking to me…it's so loud. '…Wes!' No, stop!

"_West_! Breathe!" I gasped aloud, jerking upright. North was leaning over me, her eyes familiar with worry. "It's okay, it's underwater again." I was breathing heavily now, like she had been when we first went out here. "Wait…" North stared at me in shock. "Y-You can hear it?" I nodded.

"Of course I can! That thing was _screaming_." She seemed unsatisfied with my answer, because she still had that shocked look on her face. "What was that…?" I asked. She lingered, then shook her head.

"I've never seen a pokemon like that before…It must be legendary." It was the only possibility, so I had to agree. Then I remembered what I had heard.

"It's goanna wipe out the ship next time it comes up!" I told her, but she didn't seem surprised by the news.

"I know, we have to stop it." But how? Neither of us asked the question, but we both were trying to answer it. A strong enough attack to deter it from the ship…water type…that huge, ledgendary. I cringed. Nothing. Was there even a way? Raichu snapped her tail in the water, and that one spark she released lit up the water for yards. North and I snapped our gaze to each other.

There _was_ a way.


	7. Kyogre

We came closer to the ship, where we predicted it would surface next. Raichu and Luxray stood on lapras' back and they steadily approached the bulging water. We watched from milotic, too far away to intervene if something went wrong. Sparks kept jumping from raichu's cheeks, and Luxray just stood ready.

"Will they be strong enough…?" North whispered.

"They have to be."

The ocean stirred again, but this time, we were ready for it. Maybe not, but this was it. The pokemon pushed its way free of the water and opened its gaping mouth. Rivers fell from its open jaws, extenuating its size. This had to be impossible.

"Now!" I yelled over the loud waves. "Luxray, raichu! Thunder!" Raichu wound its thin tail around luxray's, and the two allowed their energy to flow freely between them. Glowing with electrical energy, our pokemon shot up a single, but massive bolt of lightning. It seemed alive, the way the bolt moved into the clouds. Like a dragon, it almost seemed to take shape. When it hit the thunderclouds, the whole sky lit up. A flurry of lightning dropped through the clouds and onto the pokemon's back. The pokemon let out a roar of rage and pain, slamming its fins wildly in the water as it collapsed back into the waves. The ocean erupted into chaos, and enormous waves echoed across the water. When the impact reached us, it felt like the water was solid stone. I flipped and spun underwater, my body aching where I'd taken the direct impact. I flailed my arms, and felt nothing, I kicked out, and felt nothing. I felt blind and lost. I pried my eyes open in hopes to see which way was up. I was far beneath the waves, so far that the current seemed almost calm. The sensation relaxed my muscles, and I floated gently under the surface. The waves above me were so weak all of a sudden. Then, looking out in the water, I saw the water pokemon.

Falling into the depth before me was the pokemon we'd taken down. I could see its entire body now, and it was surly large than the ship, almost twice its size. Its fins were on either side, like thick blue ribbons. It was beautiful, even if it had tried to kill us. Slowly, it seemed to lift itself from its descent, then it dove far into the ocean depths and was gone. My vision flickered and I gasped in realization. With fear for my life, I was able to swim to the surface. I gasped, shaking my head to scatter the water from my face when I surfaced.

"_Wes!_" simply put, North was flipping out when I came back up. She was on milotic, surfing in circles as they searched for me. Grinning, I dove under and swam up behind her. When I was right up behind North, I burst from the water.

"Boo!"

"Wes!" North promptly smacked me over the head. It was so unexpected, that the impact caused my face to dip in the water.

"What was that for!" I demanded, wiping the saltwater once again from my cheeks.

"Idiot! Selfish, inconsiderate jerk!"

"Huh…?" She clenched her fists, ready to strike again.

"I thought you'd drowned when that wave washed you away!" She screamed. "Don't ever, _ever_ do that again you jerk!" She wiped her face, and I could see distinct watermarks on her cheeks. Those weren't from the waves. "I was really scared, okay?" Her voice cracked. Not only did I feel like a jerk for making her cry when she thought I'd died, but now I saw that she really did care about me- a lot!

"Hey." I leaned out of the water and put my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." I smiled. "It's over, and I'm right here." She nodded, giving a feeble laugh. "So…stop crying already." She quickly wiped her face, despite the fact that all her cloths were soaking anyways. Milotic slid her tail under me and lifted it out of the water, causing me to slide down her back to sit behind North. We turned our attention to the _Westway_, which rocked gently, darkly lit on the waves. It felt like we were in the eye of the storm now, calm and unreal.

"A-Attention passengers! We are now clear of the storm…The ship is in moderate condition, no casualties…" And the captian rambled on.

"We did it…" North whispered.

"Yeah...We did."


	8. Competition

(Day 5)

"Goood Morning, passengers of the _S.S Westway_!" With a groan, I landed on the rocking floor of the pokemon center. I recognized that obnoxious morning voice of the captain instantly. He sounded quite exited and eager to start the day, but his groggy passengers did not share his enthusiasm. I held the blanket over my shoulders and leaned against the couch on the floor. Last night had been hard on all the passengers, but North and I were the ones who had to clear the whole mess up. We deserved to sleep in. The blanket was tugged from behind as North tried to ignore the captain and remain asleep. I stood for only the time it took for me to flop backwards back onto my side of the couch. Her bare feet could have been in my face, but she kept them tucked in. furret openly complained about all the moving with a rare, annoyed groan and slid back under the sheets beside North and Silver. I stared up at the drab ceiling, and North sighed sleepily beside me. After we beat that pokemon, we were brain-dead and insecure, so we pretty much cuddled all night as we rode out the rest of the storm. Well, that's what Nurse Joy said. "That horrid storm is now far behind us, but it in fact pushed us further on course than we planned!" I was happy that someone enjoyed that little hurricane. "Because of that nasty wind, we will be in sight of Hoen Region early tomorrow morning!" I paused, and North was still. Though she gave no inkling that she was awake, her silence was clue enough.

"You know…" she murmured. I had to strain to hear her soft voice. "I was looking forward to seeing Hoen. All the water and deserts. It must be so different than Jhoto with its big cities and forests. But…It's weird. I'm…not as happy to see it now that it's almost here." I knew what she meant. I couldn't wait to get off this lifeboat, but now, I wished the trip would be…just a day longer.

"Yeah, me too." Then a soft sound filled the P.C. Music? When I recognized the song, I sighed in annoyance. Coincidently, _My Heart Will Go On_, by Celine Dion began playing over the P.C's speakers. When I sat up, Nurse Joy was discreetly watching us from behind her counter. "Real mature."

"Oh my!" She laughed, flustered and blushing. "How did that come on? My hand must have slipped." She was still giggling when she turned it off.

When we went up on deck, even though it was early, it was crowded and busy. Worker pokemon rushed around, setting up tables and lights.

"What's going on?" Silver and furret ran ahead, trying their best to avoid getting in their way while still exploring ever new item they set up.

"Looks like a party."

"Now listen up again, passengers~!" North and I simultaneously groaned at his voice. Now what, would he be informing us that we would arrive _today_? "Tonight, to celebrate our last night together, there will be an on-deck festival and battle tournament!"

"A tournament?" I inquired.

"A party?" North and I exchanged glances, and she smiled. "Sounds like fun." I snapped my finger and spun around to face her.

"You know, I never thanked you for saving furret. But now I know how to make it up to you!"

"How is that?" I held up one finger and smiled.

"One date." North giggled and tucked her head a little.

"What? That's so silly." She said it was silly, but I met up with her later that night for the festival, and she did not look at all like she thought it was silly.

The lights all came on at once, brightening the deck with colorful Japanese lanterns and strings of bulb lights. It seemed that the seconds they came on, North appeared at the top of the stairs. The lights seemed to turn on _because_ she was there.

Her kimono was pale pink, with blue water and bubbles decorating the sleeves and hem. A bright pink obi tied around her waist, with another decorative silk rope tying over that. Her hair was tied up in a playful looking ponytail, tied with a pink ribbon. Her outfit was elaborate…but reserved at the same time. Either way, she was absolutely radiant. Silver walked beside her, clutching her leg nervously now that so many people had arrived. She had a pink fan in her free hand, and waved to me with the other.

Had she seen me staring? I swallowed, feeling strangely warm. My outfit was bland compared to hers, just a blue one with an orange obi around my waist. I dashed to meet her.

"Hey." I grinned, kneeling down to Silver's height. "Having fun?"

"Larve-!" The pokemon froze up, clutching North even tighter. Jeez he was nervous. Furret jumped from my shoulder and gave the baby pokemon a reassuring lick on his cheek.

"Furr-fuur!" Silver nodded.

"Lar-larvitar."

"Furret is so great. She's tough, but kind and gentle too."

"Hey, are you talking about me or furret?" She laughed and took my hand.

"Let's go." The stands were filled with cheap carnival games, food, or small gift shops. North and I were thrilled like kids, dashing from stand to stand as if the party would be over in minutes. We bought pokemon masks, so I now had the face of a Pikachu, and North was a smiling fox pokemon, eevee. Furret kept sneaking bites of my dango when I wasn't looking and Silver was still guarding North with the threat level of an older brother with a shotgun.

North took interest in a target game, or should I say, her raichu did. You had to break the plates from a distance, using a pokemon of your choice. If you broke three out of three, you would get a prize. Raichu's eyes were fixed on a silk ribbon, like she had already claimed it as hers. She stepped up to the game, sparks flying from her cheeks.

"And…start!" The first plate popped up, slowly moving across the back like a moving target.

"There, get it!" Raichu shattered it with a well-aimed thundershot.

"…and here comes the next one!" The second plate appeared at the side, but raichu split it in half with a series of sparks. "Who-hoo! Can this little mouse get the last one?" A small, tea cup plate stuck up in the center, spinning wildly. Raichu's eyes followed it so fiercely that she could have fallen over dizzy.

"Chu!" A thunderbolt shook the stand, snapping the beams and caving in the entire tent. Striped cloth fell over the remains of the stand, so no one noticed the intact plate that rolled out from the debris, except raichu. She turned her head away from it, and discreetly snapped her tail over it to break it like the others.

"Well…" The man scrambled up from under his stand. "I suppose that counts…Here you go." He held out the ribbon, and raichu's eyes gleamed. A blue pokemon dashed by, and the ribbon was gone. A vein appeared on raichu's forehead.

"Rai-rai!" She jumped on all fours, sprinting down the deck after the pokemon.

"Oh no…" North put a hand to her head. "I've seen this before." North followed raichu as quickly as she could with her legs slowed by her neat kimono.

Raichu chased the wingull to the edge of the ship and came to a skidding halt. The miscevious bird pokemon slowly flew further away from the ship. "Rai-raiiii!" Raichu fell onto the deck in defeat, and a large electric pokemon jumped passed her and of off the ship.

Luxray landed on wingull's back, snatching the ribbon from its beak with a swift tug. The wingull panicked, flapped, and fled, and luxray lost his footing and fell into the waves.

"Oh! Luxray just…"

"Yeah, I know…Go get him, will you pidgeot?" The bird flew down and plucked the soaking pokemon from the water. Luxray shook the water from his thick pelt and raichu bounded over to him. Luxray took a step forward and offered her the ribbon. Raichu beamed, and jumped onto his neck, hugging him with her entire body.

"Well…" North giggled. "I thought that luxray had something for her when he saved her from that gravler." North tied the ribbon around her neck into a bow. Raichu turned to see, satisfied, then showed off to luxray.

"Oh- look!" North pointed to a stand, crowded by rookies. Sparks went off and some backed away with sticks of party sparklers. I took two and offered one to North, who eagerly lifted it in the air. Colorful spark rained down, but seemed to dissolve before they hit the deck. Her blue eyes gleamed with delight, shimmering with the sparkler's reflection. It took a lot of effort to stop staring, but I found the will to do so before she noticed me.

"Attention trainers! The competition will now begin!"

"Finally! I'm goanna win this for sure." North laughed.

"Okay, I'll be cheering!"


	9. Disobedience

"All right trainers! This will be a series of one on one battles to determine the winner! All battles will now be randomly decided…and…our first match is…" I stood in the crowd of exited trainers, watching the large screen to see who would battle first. With my team, this would be any easy win. "Wes, from the Orange Islands, and Donny from Goldenrod City!"

Donny stood opposite me in the arena. He was dressed up for the festival, with his sleeves rolled up like mine. "Get ready to go down, Wes!" He had a strange accent, that sounded a little like North. Something from Jhoto?

"You're the who's one going down!" North sighed from the stands.

"Boys get so into these." Furret nodded in agreement beside her.

"Go, Crocanaw!" Donny sent out a large, blue and tan bipedal alligator pokemon, with a red crest and enormous jaws. At its release, it shot out a powerful ray of water into the air as if showing off its power.

"And Crocanaw is sent out! How will Wes counter?" The announcer was already exited by the battle, even though it had hardly started yet.

"Okay." I enlarged a pokeball. "Go!" Pidgeot flew into the air, tearing free of the light that clung to its wings. The crowd awed, and I couldn't help but smile. Yeah, I know. He's impressive. "Pidgeot, featherdance!" I swear, with pidgeot, I could be a pokemon coordinator. He spun in the air, tossing feather in the wind and they came down like flakes of snow.

"Crocanaw, hydro pump!"

"Whoa. Pidgoet, quick attack!" He flew down, wings to his sides to maximize his speed. The powerful rays of water were no match for his speed. "Now, agility!" As if he was not fast enough, he now flew in circles around the crocanaw so quickly that it was hard to find a solid image of him.

"Crocanaw- screech!" I cringed and slapped my hands over my ears as crocanaw threw open its jaws and let out a high pitched wail. Pidgeot could not help but stopping. He stumbled onto the ground, shaking his head to try and clear the sound. "Now, tackle!" Before either of us could react, crocanaw rammed into pidgeot with full power. The heavy bird pokemon skidded backwards, clawing into the deck to regain its balance. Sure, take down was a strong attack, but pidgeot could take it. Pidgeot stood, wings out and panting with strain.

"Hang in there! Wing attack!" Pidgeot nodded, and pushed back into the air. His wings began to glow, hardening.

"Crocanaw-oh no!" Pidgeot dove down, giving no time for Donny to react. North smiled from the stands.

"I knew he could do it."

"Now-Sky attack!" Pidgeot became a blur, then nothing. "Go!" Pidgeot freefell right above crocanaw, spinning in the air and landed by throwing its hardened wings onto crocanaw. The entire ship went up in an uproar of cheers. Pidgeot looked over his shoulder at me, and nodded approvingly. "Yeah, good job to you too." I muttered. He was strong, but a little full of himself too.

"No way!" Donny fell to his knees in defeat.

"The winner is Wes from Orange Islands!"

I turned to the stands and found North on the top level. Grinning, I shot her a quick thumbs up. As usual, she returned with a soft smile, and gave me a thumbs up in return. Furret jumped on her shoulder and waved excitedly.

The next match was against a large man in a blue outfit, and a serious girl in purple. The man tossed a pokeball in the air, grinning passionately. But the other trainer was indifferent. She had lavender hair, and was dressed in a dark kimono. Her pale eyes fixed on the man as she pulled out a pokeball.

"Our next two trainers- in the blue corner is Chester from Vermillion City!" He waved to the cheering audience. "And, in the red corner- Lily, from Lavender town! Ooh- two trainers from Kanto region, let's see how this turns out." I sat beside North while I waited for my next match.

"You think that Lily girl has a chance?" I asked through a mouthful of kettle corn. North shrugged, holding silver in her lap.

"Looks can be deceiving. I've heard tough trainers come from there." I looked back at the small arena. Tough, huh?

"Let the battle begin!" Chester threw his pokeball into the air.

"Go, Electabuzz!" A large, bipedal electric pokemon with black stripes over its yellow body burst from the light. Lily examined the powerful pokemon calmly, unblinking. She lifted her hand, and a pokeball rose from her belt into her palm. The audience leaned in their seats, awed at her display.

"And many of them are said to have psychic abilities." North added. "If Lily wins, she's going to be your final opponent, Wes." I swallowed nervously, and crossed my arms.

"Just because I can't lift things with my mind doesn't mean I won't be the better trainer."

"Go now." Lily's pokeball shot foreword, bouncing once on the deck before returning to her hand. A lavender, lithe catlike pokemon sat before her. It had large, furry ears, and its slender tail split at the end into two.

"An espeon, cool." It was another evolution of eevee, the psychic fox pokemon.

"Okay, electabuzz- thunder attack!" The electabuzz roared, and a massive bolt of lightning, one that could compare to the one that luxray and raichu produced earlier, rained down on the espeon. Lily muttered something.

The lightning diverged above espeon, cutting away from the small pokemon in flurries of bolts. It was like a strong, transparent shield protected her. The audience ducked, screaming in fright when the static clawed out to us. Lily gave no notice and her eyes narrowed.

"Psychic attack." Her espeon did not move, except for a small nod of its head as its eyes began to glow. Electabuzz blinked in shock, the attack clearing away to show how little effect it had.

"What? Electabuzz- use-!" Its body began to glow, and its body tensed as if something was trapping it in a vice grip. "E-Electabuzz, what's wrong?" Espeon's tail whipped the ground, and electabuzz shot up in the air, and came crashing down on deck. The entire ship seemed to rock with the impact. "Electabuzz!" Chester ran into the arena, crouching beside his fallen partner. "Oh no…are you okay, buddy?" His pokemon cried out weakly.

"Just look at that." North murmured. "How cruel." I didn't reply. I was up, and I was against her.

"And…Lily is the victor." The announcer said. Even his enthusiasm was withered. That battle was over so quickly. I needed a strong pokemon against her. Luxray would be my best choice, but he was exhausted from fending off that pokemon last night, and electricity seemed useless against her. After this match though, I wasn't as determined to win as I was to keep my pokemon safe.

"And now for the final match! Wes and Lily!" She had the same blank stare when her espeon took the field. North held Silver tightly, watching nervously. "Lily has once again taken to the field with her espeon, but what pokemon will Wes chose?" I took a pokeball from my bag, lingering before throwing it into the arena.

A heavy, blue pokemon landed before me. As the light cleared, a large pink flower surrounded by four tattered leaves unfolded on its back. Its red eyes snapped open, glaring across the arena at espeon.

"And there it is- Wes went with ivysaur for the final match! Who will win…?" I clenched my fists.

"Ivysaur! Be careful- espeon's tough!" Unlike my other pokemon, ivysaur turned away from me, uninterested in my warning.

"Confusion."

"Oh no- here it comes, use-hey!" Ivysaur had already ran foreword, charging down on espeon with a take down attack. "No- don't use that so soon! You'll be tiered!"

"And it seems that ivysaur is not responding to Wes…How will this effect the battle?"

"Ivysaur!" He jumped into the air, charging at espeon, and froze. His eyes grew, and he kicked in the air uselessly. Espeon's tail hit the ground, and ivysaur slammed onto the deck, shaking the entire arena. He stood shakily, breathing hard. "Listen to me! I chose you because you're strong- but you need to do what I say!" He ground his teeth together and barked a warning back at me. "All right- leech seed!" Ivsaur ran at her again, whipping a pair of vines from his bulb at the still pokemon. He didn't like her just sitting there. He must have felt like she was undermining him. Espeon still held her ground, letting a psychic shield deflect the attacks. "Keep at it!" He shot out a few razor leaves, and espeon rocked to a side, wincing. There was a flicker of light that seemed to form a bubble around her. "Now!" Ivysaur leapt above her, and shot a large seed from inside his bulb into her side. Espeon screamed as lively vines sprouted and began to tangle around her small body.

"Psybeam." Lily showed no more interest than she had at the start of the battle, but chose a different strategy. Espeon's eyes glowed again, and the red jewl on her forehead began to pulse. A series of colorful beams shot from her forehead. Ivysaur whipped the ground with his vines and jumped to safety above her.

"Okay! Sleep powder!" Ivysaur shot me a curious glance, then grinned. Instead of a misty silver, he ejected a lavender dust from his leaves. "Poisinpowder! No- wait ivysaur!" My disobedient pokemon turned away, landing with a thud. As the toxic spores closed in, enveloping the weakened espeon, the wind picked up.

"Dragon pulse."

"What!" How could an espeon know a dragon-type attack? Sure enough, her pokemon lifted its head and snarled. A dark wind picked up around her, forcing the impending cloud of toxins away from her in a flurry of unnatural wind. Ivysaur blinked in shock when the powder rained down on him instead. "Whirlwind!" Ivysaur heard my command, and in his panic, he obeyed me. His leaves spun rapidly, and created a powerful gust. The thin powder cleared away from him and dispersed into the air.

As the wind died away, the remains of the powder hit something in the air above the deck, falling away from it like a barrier. I looked up, and a large airship revealed itself in the night sky.


	10. Ambush

"What is that!"

"Oh no!"

"A ship? What's it doing?"

North jumped to her feet in the stands, drawing Silver close into her arms. She recognized such a ship before anyone else. No one noticed as she started to back away from it- fear glazing over her eyes. Then, her eyes glanced to Wes, and she forced her feet to stop taking her away. Against all her instincts, she ran down the steps, furret close beside her.

"Wes! It's them!" I turned around and she was running onto the arena.

"What's going on? Hey- we're still in a battle here!"

"Forget about that! It's them!" I looked back at the airship, and a second glance showed me a painted red "R" on its side.

"Team… Rocket…?" The deck burst up in light as the ship pelted us with small bombs. Smoke clung to the ship like a claw, pulling away slowly in the wind as if it were heavier than air. In that disarray and panic, trainers clad in black jumped from the airship and landed on the _Westway_. They closed off the exits with fierce pokemon that snarled and spit fire if you came too near, and the railing was suddenly crowded with more trainers in uniforms. There was instantly nowhere else to go, and all of the passengers crowded in the center of the deck. I put my back to North's, and took her hand reassuringly. Her palms were hot, and shaking just noticeably.

"Listen up!" A tall woman in a black uniform stepped forward. A heavy dragon pokemon, gabite, stood beside her, glaring at us eagerly. "We really don't want any trouble, so here's what's going to happen. All of you with pokemon on hand will hand them over nicely so we can get out of here nice and quick. Okay? Simple." Furret ducked into my shirt nervously, and ivysaur was pawing at the deck, ready to charge. The crowd filled with dissent murmurs, and I put my lips beside North's ear.

"We can't let them do this."

"I know." She whispered back. "Charizard could help."

"And ivysaur." I glanced at the enraged grass type. For once, I was glad he was out. He had the strength, and personality we needed.

"This is not a discussion!" The rocket member ordered, hushing the crowd. "Give them up willingly," She must have seen my expression, because her eyes locked on mine, and she jabbed a finger in my direction. "starting with you and that ivysaur! Now!" North's breathing quickened as I pulled away.

"Get ready." The crowd cleared for me as if I were being executed. Ivysaur walked with me, pretending to be submissive. Though he was acting all on his own, it made me a little happier to know that he would never go without a fight. When we stood a good yard or so away, ivysaur snapped. He let out a fierce bellow, and released a frenzy of razor leaves. A few of them got even me, but the distraction was perfect.

"Go!" North's charizard landed on the deck, shooting flames across the planks to clear the Rocket grunts from the crowd. He let out a massive roar, and leapt into the air with North on his back. The ship was alive with bright flames and wind and sharp leaves. Such a sudden rebellion caught the pokemon thieves off guard, especially when the other trainers followed our lead. All sorts of pokemon cries filled my ears, along with the yells and screams of Team Rocket. It was chaos, but it was our chaos. I threw another pokeball and pidgeot flapped beside me.

"C'mon!" I held onto his back plumage and joined North in the air. Pidgeot was as eager as the rest of my pokemon to join the fray.

"Mr. Giovanni- they're fighting back!" The Rocket leader was speaking rapidly into her cellphone. "Ther's too many of them- we did not predict this."

"Well, Stacy…" A deep, rich voice replied on the other line. "It seems you have failed miserably. Regroup immediately and return to base."

"And…what about _her_, sir?"

"…I expect that you looked for her while you were apprehending them. It would be unwise to simply miss her. Understood?"

"Of course sir." She clapped the phone together. "Fall back!" The rest of the team seemed all too eager to return to the ship, but North and I made sure to give them a…respectable farewell.

"Fire Blast!"

"Whirlwind!" The combination of a powerful fire attack and wind to boost it…it was like a firestorm in mid air. The hot air forced their airship away like a bomb had gone off. North and I landed on deck.

The trainers were cheering, jumping and clapping hands. Lights bright- sky dark to contrast against the bulbs. North and I were laughing, and our eyes met. Her hair was messy, as I'm sure mine was, then worse. She had a scratch on her cheek, hardly noticeable because of the perfect grin. We were far from each other, but it seemed like we were the only ones in the midst of trainers. Everyone's movements slowed, blurry, but she remained clear. Perfect. Her grin weaned to a small smile, and mine disappeared. I didn't care if she saw me stare anymore.


	11. Gone

Sometimes, you just want time to stop. Some days, nights, places or touches. You want the monument to last a lifetime. But it can't always be that way, it hardly ever is. This amazing night would be over in a matter of hours, but the feelings felt infinite. This couldn't be how it ended. We couldn't just…go separate ways when we reach Hoen. It couldn't just end like that. I…didn't want her to become just a memory.

She smiled, turning to a side as if she were tired of being embarrassed.

"Thank you."

Team Rocket must not have liked such a swift defeat, or been accustomed to it, because they shot at the _Westway_ with everything they had. Like we gave them a blazing farewell, they returned the favor. It was just one shot, but it hit the side of the ship with such force it could have been an armed fleet. The entire ship bucked in the waves, groaning as the ship was forced off course. There were screams, and lights went out in sparks.

By the time I regained my night vision, I was already over the edge.

I'd been on the tip of the cruiser, and when the ship broke backwards, I fell over the railing instantly. My sense of gravity was lost, and I clenched my eyes shut. I would land right in front of the ship, where it would crush me in a matter of seconds. The hull would make quick work of me, like a piece of driftwood strayed off course and into the ships impending current.

I was…going to die?

"Wes!" I landed on a soft, bouncy surface, and sprung into back into the air. I flailed, yelling. I came back down on the same trampoline, sinking slightly into the surface as if it were a large water balloon covered in silk. I sat upwards quickly in disbelief.

"I-I'm alive? But…" Whatever it was that I was on, it was pink in color. "How…?" Where had it come from- out of thin air!

The Westway had been built such attacks- it was a pokemon ship, meant to transport trainers. So its hull was designed for hits like that. It was damaged, but we would be able to make it the rest of the way.

The bubble lowered itself to the water, straight down like an elevator, but at an aggravating pace. I remembered now. I'd heard North's voice when I fell! She had to have been right there, jeez. She must be freaking out right now.

The bubble made contact with the water and popped instantaneously. I was surprised to fall into the waves from such a height, three feet at least. I resurfaced quickly, and waved my arms.

"Hey! Over here!" A few sailors were at the railing, already searching for overboard trainers, so I was noticed quickly. A rope ladder and life-ring were tossed over, and I was hoisted up in no time. I was still a little pale from my near-death experience, but I had a smile on my face as I searched through the growing crowds around me for that one perfect face. I was ready for her to come running, and I had played out a few different fantasies of how she would greet me. Any one was fine…but…where was she? My smile faded. I thought she would…be here sooner.

"Are you okay, son?" An elderly man in a white sailor's outfit had been talking to me.

"W-What? I'm…yeah."

"You're rather pale."

"I'm fine…uhm…" North still hadn't shown. Wait. Could she have fallen off as well! "Wait!" I faced the man. "There was a girl with me- North from jhoto region. She was in a pink kimono- she might've fallen over board!" I scrambled to my feet and ran to the railing.

"Check the passenger list, hurry now, and begin a search!" The deck was alive with short-lived commotion. I sprinted to the other side, leaving wet footprints wherever I ran. The other sailors slowed to a stop, glancing at me nervously.

"Why aren't you looking!" I demanded. They didn't reply, which only made my heart sink further. "She could be…" I swallowed as the old sailor approached me with a clipboard. He put a hand on my shoulder.

"You had a narrow escape there, falling off the cruiser and only getting' soaked. Might've hit your head." I swallowed again.

"What's going on- I…I didn't get hit!" He shook his head.

"That girl you mentioned…well…there's no such trainer on our roster." I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as the man scratched his head. "What I'm tryin' to say is…there was never a "North" on board, son."

North? It didn't take long for me to register what he'd said, but it made little sense.

"W-What're you talking about! There _is_ a girl here!" I retaliated.

"Calm down, that was some fall." They thought I was crazy.

"North _is_ here! I don't care what the roster says- you must've missed her when she came on board!" The sailor shook his head.

"We don't miss our passengers, son."

"Well you missed _her_!" The sailor ignored me and signaled to one of the others.

"Please, escort him back to his cabin. The poor boy is exhausted." The young sailor nodded, and turned my way.

"Hey, kid. It's cool, we'll look for her, but why don't you just go take a long rest?" I backpedalled, and the crowd cleared for me like I was a rehab escapee. Another sailor started to help the other, and I bolted. I sprinted to the open deck on the other side of the ship, fumbling with my pokeballs as I did so. I had to find her myself!

"Pidgeot! Get us-gah!" Someone tackled me from behind, knocking me onto the planks. My face slid on the waxed boards, and pidgeot's ball slipped from my hand. "No! Get off of me!" I struggled under the crewman, and his grip tightened.

"Calm down, kid!" He hissed into my ear. "You're making this worse on yourself." I stared hopelessly at the foamy water we trailed behind us, breathing loudly. "That girl's gone…" I'm sure that this sailor didn't know North, or even believe me, but his words stung with reality.

She was gone.

I was "assisted" back to my cabin, with a sailor at either side of me to make sure I found my way back. And then they locked me in to make sure I got a long, solitary rest.

The first thing I did was rip the magazine page off the peephole that I'd discovered on my first day on the ship. The crack was gone, sealed like the rest of my wall. I stroked my hands over it. It was smooth, like the crack had never been there. Furret stepped up to the wall, light on the mattress, and scratched it with her paws. She knew it had been there, along with the other pokemon and North. Luxray uncharacteristically came out of his ball without my consent. He stared at me, then looked around the room like something was missing.

"You miss raichu, don't ya, boy…?" I murmured, offering my hand. He nuzzled me in the shoulder reassuringly.

'And you miss North.' He seemed to say.

I fell back onto my knees, then rested my head against the wall. I felt weak. Like I hadn't eaten in days, or slept. I must have been pale. My bangs obscured my view of the wall. I felt…defeated. If I ever lost a pokemon league conference, this is how I would feel, only happier.

My angry fist lost its grip on the paper, and it unfolded in my hand. It was a page from a poke-pal magazine, with pictures of all sorts of cute pokemon. Mine was a full-page photograph of a pair of Pikachu, cuddling together in the grass.

It was titled, "Always with me".


End file.
